News Wrap: Bondi Beach shooting suspect charged with 15 counts of murder

Geoff Bennett:

We begin the day's other headlines in Australia where the surviving suspect in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach has been charged with 15 counts of murder, one for each of the victims, and 59 charges in all.

It comes as hundreds gathered to mourn at the first funerals today for the victims, among them, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a father of five and an organizer of Sunday's Hanukkah event where the shooting took place. The youngest victim, 10-year-old Matilda, whose last name was withheld.

She immigrated with her parents from Ukraine to escape the war. Her funeral will be held tomorrow. The oldest killed 87-year-old Alex Kleytman, who was also a native of Ukraine and a Holocaust survivor. He died shielding his wife from harm.

Former special counsel Jack Smith testified privately to lawmakers today and reportedly said his investigators developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump criminally conspired to overturn the 2020 election.

According to press reports, Smith also told lawmakers in his closed deposition that the president repeatedly tried to obstruct government efforts to recover classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago resort. Smith had asked to testify publicly, something President Trump has said he supported. House Judiciary Republicans, however, rejected that request.

The U.S. Senate today passed a massive defense bill even as it's causing some friction with the White House and Pentagon. Inside the National Defense Authorization Act is a record $901 billion, including a nearly 4 percent pay raise for troops. At odds with the administration, the 3,000-page bill pressures Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to turn over unedited footage of an alleged drug boat strike from September.

The bill also reins in the president's ability to limit troop numbers abroad and authorizes more U.S. money for weapons to Ukraine.

Warner Bros. Discovery has urged its shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance's hostile bid to purchase the company with an all-cash offer valued at over $108 billion. The board instead recommended sticking with a $72 billion bid from Netflix.

In that letter to shareholders, Warner Bros. said Paramount's offer relied too heavily on borrowed money and carried significant risks and costs. Paramount defended its direct offer as a superior value, and the decision ultimately rests with shareholders who have until January 8 to vote on Paramount's offer.

Separately, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the Oscars will move online exclusively to YouTube starting in 2029, leaving broadcast TV for the first time ever and leaving ABC, where it's been shown for the last five decades.

Senators threw sharp questions at FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr during his first congressional appearance since the agency pressured broadcasters to remove ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel from the airwaves earlier this year.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX):

But what government cannot do is force private entities to take actions that the government cannot take directly.

Geoff Bennett:

Commerce Committee Chairman Texas Republican Ted Cruz had previously called Carr's comments — quote — "dangerous as hell." Today, Democrats pressed Carr on whether he was politicizing an independent agency.

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM):

And just so you know, Brendan, on your Web site, it just simply says, man, the FCC is independent. This isn't a trick question.

Brendan Carr, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission:

OK, the FCC is not.

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan:

The answer is yes or no.

Brendan Carr:

It's not, is not — is not…

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan:

OK. So is your Web site wrong? Is your Web site lying?

(Crosstalk)

Brendan Carr:

Possibly. The FCC is not an independent agency.

Geoff Bennett:

During that hearing, the FCC's Web site changed, removing the word independent from its mission statement.

Also, on Capitol Hill, the Senate voted 67 to 30 to confirm Jared Isaacman to be NASA's next administrator. The billionaire tech entrepreneur and close ally of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was tapped twice for the role. President Trump pulled his nomination earlier this year amid his public falling out with Elon Musk, only to renominate him last month.

That's as FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he will resign his post next month. The former Secret Service agent was previously a right-wing podcasting personality. He hasn't shared his future plans. During that time, he spread provocative conspiracy theories, including about the Epstein files and the investigation into the D.C. pipe bomber.

It was an across-the-board sell-off on Wall Street today. The Dow Jones industrial average had the smallest loss of the day at nearly half-a-percent. The Nasdaq fell by more than 400 points, or nearly 2 percent. And the S&P 500 dropped to its fourth straight loss.

And the bodies of two fallen Iowa National Guard soldiers who were killed in Syria returned to U.S. soil today. Sergeants William Nathaniel Howard and Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar were killed on Saturday in an attack the U.S. blamed on the Islamic State. A U.S. civilian interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat, also died.

President Trump joined military officials and the soldiers' grieving families for the dignified transfer of remains today at Delaware's Dover Air Force Base.